StephenZA
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
You needed to be an ABdV, Kohli or Smith to score runs in both those series in SA. Good bowlers. Tough batting conditions.
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The other Steve Smith question - Who would you try and get him out ?
- Thread starter Midwinter
- Start date
OverratedSanity
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Or Dean Elgar
StephenZA
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Well ugly is also beautiful in its own way...
Spark
Global Moderator
Oh man I'm getting so many flashbacks to so many Aus tours away (especially to England) in the last decade with "a merely acceptable performance with the bat would've seen [Aus] win that series"
Arachnodouche
International Captain
The thing about Smith is, as ugly as he looks at the crease, you never really see him play and miss a lot, unlike say Kohli in Eng last year or Tendulkar and Clarke against Steyn during their great hundreds in SA. He is exceptional at getting off the strike with that nurdle around his hips so you never see him in duels of attrition against any particular bowler.
Burner
International Regular
A bit unfair on the others. Clarke and Tendulkar were playing and missing against Steyn, and Kohli against Anderson. Who in the current English line up is the same class of either Steyn or Anderson?
Coronis
International Coach
Isnt Archer meant to be better than both?
a massive zebra
International Captain
Joe Root possibly? Although he is not in the beat of form at the moment.
Burner
International Regular
Yeah and Root did get him out, which proves my point.
vcs
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Wouldn't call it a massive underachievement. SA beat Australia even more convincingly a couple of months later and they are much better suited to those conditions and have a history of winning there.
By the end of the year, SA's performance levels had clearly dropped and they struggled to cross 300 across 2 full series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Morkel retired, Olivier came in and did well but their batting is so fragile.
Losing 4-1 to England after being in a position to take control at various stages in different matches was very frustrating and a failure, yeah. We weren't helped by losing 5/5 tosses though.
India's biggest problem is we can't bat under pressure, or chase a challenging 4th innings total. If the opposition bats first and puts up a par or above total, we'll be 30/3 in no time and up against it. Need some solid openers, basically. And there's no chance of chasing even 175 in a 4th innings when you're invariably getting off to starts like that. Weirdly, when we win, they tend to be blowouts, especially in home conditions, so our batsmen can't get practice in saving matches or chasing tricky targets in relatively friendly conditions either.
TheJediBrah
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did he? Or did he just happen to be throwing down the pies when Smith got himself out?
Burgey
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Archer needs to learn to have a dig when things aren't easy. His "effort" on days one and two in the fourth test was lamentable tstl. I don't believe he was injured, because when the game was basically over in the second dig, he had a go and charged in. Essentially it seemed it was a bit too cold for him in the first innings, which is laughable. I mean, he's playing for someone else's country here, the stakes are pretty high. Overton had more of a go than he did. It was a joke, I couldn't believe the way he bowled, it was a gift for our blokes given the conditions.
I think it's pretty obvious when you look at Archer as a person that he's going to have significant moments and periods of time where he CBF. He'll roar when it's his day and the conditions suit him, but Neil Wagner he is not. Someone like Smith systematically ripping him apart clearly shattered his ego.
TheJediBrah
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Biggest indicator for me of Archer's general lack of interest is his fielding. He's been atrocious in the field, yet we know he has the ability to be adequate and even brilliant at times, so you have to reach the conclusion that he just doesn't care.
GoodAreasShane
Cricketer Of The Year
Reminds me of the Big Bash final the summer before last, between him and Tom Rogers that was an absolutely comical sequence of play